WAIHI GOLD MINING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21505, 31 May 1933, Page 7

WAIHI GOLD MINING

BULLION RETURNS HIGHER SLIGHT ADVANCE IN COSTS THE NEW EXPORT DUTY The 44th annual report of the directors of the Waihi Gold Mining Company, Limited, stat- j, that in the year ended December 31, 1932, a total of 231,840 tons (of 20001b. dry weight) of ore was treated. The gold and silver realised £490,811, together with £40,031 obtained by reduction of bullion in profess of treatment, compared with £413,900 in the previous year. Interest, amounted to £18,923. The value of power supplied by the- New Zealand Government, in pursuance of the terms of the purchase of the Korahora undertaking, was £11,245. Those items amounted to a total of £561,010, compared with £112.125 in 1931. Expenditure in New Zealand and London, excluding taxation, amounted to £309,092, leaving a gross profit of £251,948. It had been necessary to provide £00,779 for income tax in New Zealand and London, which was less by £IO,BIO than in the previous year, when retrospective taxation was provided for. A sum of £7007 had been written off for depreciation. Total Eullion Returns Owing to the premium on gold it had been possible to replace in exploration and miscellaneous reserve accounts £35,000, which was transferred to the previous .year's revenue account. After these appropriations tin balance at credit of revenue account was £149,102, to which was added £3847 brought forward from the previous year. After payment of the year's dividend of 2s a share, tax free, absorbing £89,182, a balance of £53,767 was left to be carried forward. Sales of cottages to work-t. men realised £317 and sales of old plant £l4. On the liquidation of £ho Gold Mine Owners' Association in New Zealand, £7144 had been received from the liquidator and carried to reserves. The total bullion returns for 1932 at £5.j0,872 were £116,972 higher than in 1931 and were the highest since 1911. Total receipts since IS9O at December, 1932, were £17,627,140. Over the same period £6,010,646 had been paid in dividends and £1,015,636 in taxation, a total distribution of £7,086.282. The directors state that the provision for income tax, £60,779, was equivalent to os 3d a ton and the New Zealand Government had imposed a'new export fluty on gold of 12s 6d an ounce, which, in the case of the Waihi Company, was equivalent to about 3s a ton. These imposts, amounting to Ss 3d a ton, wero a very serious drawback to operations and would render it unprofitable to work large ore bodies which would otherwise have become payable owing to the premium on gold. During the year 201,907 tons of new ore were developed. Reserves in th 9 general account showed a reduction c£ 15,941 tons and the suspense account 4791 tons, a total of 20,732 tons.

Superintendent's Report The superintendent's report states that, with a view to taking the fullest possible advantage of the premium on gold, output was maintained at the highest possible level the treatment plant could stand. Several years ago, •when it was found impossible to keep the whole of the stamps supplied with fully-payable ore, it was decided to send to the mill any ore already opened up which would pay on its particular cost of breaking and treating and for the loss in tailings, and contribute even a fittle to the relief of standing costs. In pursuance of this policy very considerable quantities of low-grade ore had been sent to the mill. The policy wa3 sound, even with gold at standard price, and tiie premium had brought an un- • foreseen reward. It was hoped, with an increased tonnage, that the working costs per ton, which included all development and overhead expenditure in New Zealand, might be reduced, but this had not been possible. The working of an increased proportion of small hlocks, often in narrow runs of ore, find the cost of opening them up, tended to make mining more expensive. Considerable expense had been incurred in lifting surface tram roads and drilling-stir-"* face depressions, as a result of the steady development taking place in some ports of Martha Hill. The directors record with regret the . death of Mr. Charles "Rhodes, who had been associated with the company for over, 30 years. Since the date of the accounts to March 18, a total of 49.524 short tons of ore had been f treated. 3 r ielding buli lion worth £106,000. A summary of the I company's accounts was published in ! the Hf.rald on April 21. REPORTS OF MANAGERS ! Golconda (Thames). —Driviig on the j hangingwall dropper from the H. Wall j winze has" been continued and the ' dropper has opened out to about 6in. j in width. It shows nice dabs and co'l- ! ours of gold and about two pounds of j fair picked stone have been selected. On | 70ft,. level in the leading stope the ; reef is 4}ft. wide, and we have not j yet reached the junction of the branch i reef. Nice blotches of gold have been I seen in the main ore body, in th« ' hard quartz. The ore is carrying zino ! blend and iron, pyrites and looks proI mising for making gold At any time. The Dawn of Hope (Thames). —The ; hands were engaged until Wednesday ! last stoping on the hangingwall branch of the Golden Age reef. There, is a change of country rock in this stope which is not favourable for gold, and we are now employed driving a crosscut to the Reuben Parr reef. The distance to intersect this reef is approximately 180 ft. There is a fair amount of untested country in tins locality and we have also the prospect of intersecting Christie's leader and the Dawn of Hope reef in the course of carrying out this work.